


Panic Attack

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:21:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23280883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: Alex gets a panic attack from watching the news.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	Panic Attack

**Author's Note:**

> This is a request!

“There you are, I’ve been looking all over the venue for you! I think Zack, Rian and myself are all going to go out with the crew to a couple bars, are you coming?” Jack asked as he walked into the green room where Alex was, as Alex scrolled on his phone.  
“I think I’m going to pass for tonight, I don’t really feel like going out,” Alex replied as he put his phone down.  
“Are you sure? Are you feeling okay, you normally love to go out with us,” Jack pointed out, sounding a bit concerned.  
“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m just a bit worn out. That was a great show, but it really took a lot of energy out of me. I just want to go to the bus and relax, you guys have fun without me,” Alex explained, with a reassuring smile.  
“Well, if you’re sure,” Jack started.  
“I am, I’ll go out with you all tomorrow or the next day,” Alex promised, standing up.  
“Sounds good. Get some rest so we can have a great time tomorrow!” Jack exclaimed, grabbing his jacket off of a hook on the door.  
“Will do. I’ll see you later, man,” Alex said before walking out of the room. Alex saw that it was a little after eleven and decided that he’d spend his night in the back lounge of the bus, in sweats, drinking some wine.   
He hadn’t really talked to any of his friends about this, since everyone was having such a great time on tour, but Alex hadn’t been doing great lately. Alex’s anxiety had been very high, and his mental health generally hadn’t been great for a couple weeks now.   
Normally, he’d talk to Jack about something like this, but Alex constantly saw Jack happy and in a good mood, and he didn’t want to ruin that for his friend by talking about what was on his mind. Besides, he knew he’d be fine, he could handle all of this on his own.   
Alex quickly made his way out of the venue and onto the tour bus, then rinsed off in the shower before putting on some comfortable clothes. Next, Alex went to the kitchenette, and grabbed some chips, a bottle of wine, and a glass.   
Once he had everything he’d need, he walked to the back lounge of the bus, and set down his snacks. He went to his bunk and grabbed his pillow and blanket, which he set up on the couch. When Alex was comfortable, he turned on the TV, surprised to see that the news was what had been left on from earlier.   
Alex decided to leave it on as background noise for a bit while he replied to a few texts he’d gotten during their show. He’d planned on replying to the messages when he was in the green room, but his mind had started to go down an anxious spiral, only to be stopped by Jack coming in.   
Once he finished replying to everything, Alex set his phone down and started to watch the news, because the current story had caught his attention.  
“Good evening, everyone, it’s been a crazy day here in Cincinnati. A few hours ago, someone opened fire in a bar downtown, resulting in a couple tragic deaths. Morgan is on the scene, and has more on this story, so we’ll turn this story over to her,” the first reporter said as the frame changed to a young reporter standing in front of a bar, police cars with lit up sirens directly behind her.   
Just seeing and hearing what he had in the ten seconds that the field reporter had been on made Alex feel even more anxious, and he could feel his mind starting to spiral even further. Alex knew that continuing to watch the news would just make everything worse, but he couldn’t get himself to change the channel as the field reporter started her part of the story.   
Eventually, Alex couldn’t even comprehend what she was saying, but seeing all of the bad things on the screen made him feel much worse. He suddenly remembered that all of his best friends were about to go out to some bars in Cincinnati, the city they were in, the city where someone had opened fire in a bar just a few hours earlier. A feeling of terror overtook Alex, what if something bad happened to his friends while they were out?   
Alex started to feel his heart pound in his chest, and his vision started to get unclear, making him feel dizzy. His stomach started to hurt as his mind continued to spiral, and he began to have trouble breathing. Not much later, all of this caused him to hyperventilate, and Alex grabbed his chest, hoping that it would stop him from feeling like he was drowning.   
As Alex continued to spiral further into his panic attack, Jack walked onto the bus, hoping to change out of what he was wearing before leaving with everyone. He went to the bunk area and grabbed a shirt out of the duffle bag he had on the band’s junk bunk.   
As he quickly changed, he heard a weird noise coming from the back lounge, almost like someone was choking. As far as he knew, Alex was the only person on the bus, so these noises immediately concerned him. He closed his bag, then rushed to the end of the hallway, and opened the door to the back lounge.   
He saw Alex, who was leaning forward some, and holding onto his chest as he gasped for air and felt a rush of terror surge through him. Jack quickly sat on the couch next to his friend and tried to get him to sit up some.  
“Alex, holy shit, what’s going on?” Jack frantically asked, still trying to help his friend sit up some. Alex didn’t reply, he still couldn’t catch his breath, and the anxiety had made him so nauseous that he didn’t trust himself to talk.   
Jack looked around the room, hoping that something would give him a clue as to what was going on with his friend. Eventually, he saw that the news was on, which made Jack realize that Alex was having a panic attack.  
“Hey, everything’s going to be just fine, you’re just a bit anxious, but I’ll help you through this. First of all, you know who I am, right? Can you register what’s going on enough to know that it’s me, Jack?” Jack asked, rubbing Alex’s back some.  
“Yes, Jack,” Alex choked out.  
“That’s a good start! Okay, I want you to follow my breathing pattern. On the count of three, we’re going to both take a deep breath, in and out. One, two, three,” Jack instructed.   
He started to breathe loudly enough for Alex to hear and follow what he was doing. Jack helped Alex sit up more, and the two of them started breathing in sync, relieving Jack some.  
“Now that your breathing has calmed down some, let’s try to get you out of this spiral. When you’re ready, I want you to list off five things that you can see,” Jack said. Alex took a deep breath before finally speaking.  
“Um, the blanket, the TV, you, my lap, and the remote,” Alex said in a shaky voice.  
“Perfect, now give me a list of four things you can feel,” Jack continued.  
“Your hand on my back, this blanket, my clothes, and the couch,” Alex said, sounding a bit better.  
“Let’s keep going, give me three things you can hear,” Jack instructed.  
“Your voice, my voice, and the TV,” Alex replied.  
“Nice, now two things you can smell,” Jack continued.  
“You and my wine,” Alex said, making Jack roll his eyes and laugh some.  
“I’ll let that one go for now, what’s one thing that you can taste?” Jack asked.  
“My wine,” Alex said, starting to sound calmer.  
“Good, now shut your eyes and breathe deeply. You can beat this anxiety, you just have to get out of this spiral,” Jack said, still rubbing Alex’s back as he continued to breathe deeply. Alex shut his eyes, and his breathing continued to even out over the next few minutes. Eventually, Alex opened his eyes and leaned back against the couch and looked up at the ceiling.  
“How’re you feeling?” Jack asked, leaning back next to Alex.  
“A bit better. I’m not having a panic attack anymore, so that’s definitely an improvement. Thanks for helping me out of it, I owe you one,” Alex said in a sincere voice.  
“You don’t owe me anything, that’s what friends are for,” Jack replied, making Alex smile some.  
“I just realized, what’re you doing here? Shouldn’t you be out with the others?” Alex asked.  
“Well, I came here to change clothes, but I heard what sounded like choking coming from back here, and when I went to see what was going on, you were hyperventilating,” Jack explained, sounding concerned.   
“Oh, well, I’m sorry that I delayed your plans,” Alex replied in a small voice.  
“Don’t apologize, this is way more important. What made you have a full-on panic attack, man?” Jack continued.  
“Well, it’s kind of stupid, but I turned on the TV, and the news was on. There was a story on how someone opened fire in a bar here a few hours ago, and it freaked me out, since you guys are going to some bars. I know it’s stupid, but that’s what triggered it,” Alex explained, going to take a sip of his wine, before Jack took the glass from him.  
“Hey, I was drinking that!” Alex exclaimed, trying to get the gall back from his friend, but failing to do so.  
“I don’t think alcohol is the best option for you right now. You normally don’t get panic attacks from stuff like that, unless you’re already anxious or to ding well. Are you okay?” Jack continued, looking right at Alex. Alex sighed, knowing that he had no way out of being honest with Jack now.  
“To be totally honest, not really,” Alex confessed in a small voice.   
“Do you want to talk about it? I want to help you, man,” Jack continued.  
“Well, my anxiety has been super high, which has sucked, and I’ve just not felt great mentally for the past couple weeks,” Alex stated.  
“Couple of weeks? If this has been going on for that long, why I am just now hearing about this?” Jack questioned.   
“I didn’t want to bother you, or make you super concerned. Everyone’s having a great time on this tour, I didn’t want to ruin that for anyone, but I guess that I kind of did now,” Alex explained, sounding guilty.  
“You didn’t ruin anything, and you wouldn’t have if you’d mentioned this when it all started. Alex, you’re my best friend, ad knowing that you’ve been this upset, and have bottled all of this up for so long breaks my heart. In the future, please tell me when something isn’t right, it’ll never be a burden, I promise,” Jack sincerely replied.  
“I will, I promise I’ll be honest from the beginning next time. Now, I’ve taken enough of your night, you can go, if you want,” Alex offered.  
“You’re funny, you think I’m really going to just leave you after this? Let’s watch a movie,” Jack suggested.  
“I don’t want to fuck up your night, dude,” Alex continued.  
“And you haven’t. Actually, it’ll be better since I’m going to spend it with you!” Jack exclaimed, making them both smile.  
“You’re the best, thank you so much, Jack,” Alex replied.  
“Damn right I am! Now, it’s movie time!” Jack said as he started to channel surf. Alex knew that continuing to battle with his mental health would be a challenge, but he was glad to have such a supportive best friend who would help him through it.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is a request for someone on here! I slightly modified it, but I think this actually turned out pretty good!! With everything going on in the world right now, watching the news can definitely be a bit much, but I think that's why I enjoyed writing this so much. Hopefully, this can help some of you guys if the news is giving you anxiety. I'm hoping to have another request up within the next couple days, and I'm trying to give myself some structure in my days of being at home, and I've allotted some time daily for writing! Please continue to send in requests if you have them, I love writing your ideas! Thank you for reading, and stay safe! Lots of love, Liv.


End file.
